Golf-club.



E. M. FITZJOHN & E. A. STANTON.

GOLF CLUB. APPLICATION FILED MAY HI 1915.

1,250,296. Patented Dec. 18,1917.

ftively light al eing 1 socket portion 0 UNrrED STATES PATENT OFFICE. 7

EDWARD M. FITZJOHN AND ELMER A. STANTON, OF ONEIDA, NEW YORK. I

GOLF-CLUB.

Application filed May 11,

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD M. Frrz; JOHN, a subject of Great Britain, and EL- MER A. STANTON, a citizen of the United States, and residents of Oneida, in the county of Madison, in the State of New York, have invented new and useful Improvements in Golf-Clubs, of which the following, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a full, clear, and exact description. i l

This invention relates to certain improvements in golf clubs and refers more particularly to the structure of the head and its relation to the handle. v

The main object isto establish such relation between the head and the handle that when the club is held in striking position, the head will automatically balance or adjust itself into proper position for striking the ball squarely,, as distinguished from those clubs in which the shank or socket of the handle is attached to one end of the head,

whereby the dominant weight of the head is;

eccentric to the axis and renders the use of the club more or less uncertain.

In other words, we have sought to bring the striking face of the head as nearly as possible in the center of gravity of the club as a whole when suspended from the extreme upper end of the handle.

Another object is to produce acomparaand line of resistance mainly belbw thie longitudinal center of the hea e Other objects and uses relating "to specific parts of the device will be brought out in the following description.

" In the. drawings Figure 1 is a rear elevation of the lower portion of a' olf club,i th e upper portion of the handle broken --'away and the the shank for receiving the lower endof the handle shown in sec-- tion. Fig. -2 is an opposite face view of the; same portion of the club. 1 Fig. 3 is a top plan of the head, the ad- Specification of Letters Patent.

-metal head which 1s particu-' 'la-rly adapted for putting plays.,

Patented Dec. 18, 1917.

1915. Serial N0. 27,380.

jacent portion of the handle being shown in section. I

Fig. 4 is a side elevation of the same hea andadjacent portion of the shank.

E1g.,5 is a top plan of a modified form of head.

As illustrated, the golf club comprises a laterally'elongated head -1 having a sub.- stantially flat driving face 2- and an integral shank '3-- extending rearwardly and upwardly from its lower rear face in the form ofa loop 4, the upper portion of the shank above the head being substantially straight and provided witha tapered socket -5 for receiving the lower tapered end 6 of a handle '7- which is secured in the socket --5-- by any suitable fastening a upper edges of the head, as shown more clearly in Fig. 4, leaving a considerable clearance between the upper portion of the head and shankvto lighten the weight and permit the striking power to be applied directly to the lower ortion of the head where the strains due to impact with the ball and also with the ground-are most severe.

The structure and weight of'the head and manner of connectingit with the handle is such that the striking face of the head will be inapproximately the center of gravity when the club as a whole issuspended by the upper end of the handle; a u

The lower and upper edges of .thehead are substantially parallel, while the shank and handle are inclined upwardly at suitable angles to the front face and longitudinal center, the junction ofl the loop and head '1-- being substantially midway between the opposite endsjof the lower edge of the head, leaving the entire upper edge of said head free and unobstructed from end to end. The front face of the head isfdisposed in a flat plane at an acute angle'to-the axis nearer the head so as to increase its range of usefulness for lofting, driving or putting,

thereby avoiding the necessity for carrying extra clubs'for these difierent' plays.

The axis of the handle may be represented by the dotted line a, Fig. 4, while the plane of the front face of the head may be designated by the dotted line b, and the plane passing at right angles through the longitudinal center of the head may be designated by the dotted line c, thus showing clearly the angle of inclination of the front face of the head relatively to the axis of the handle and also showing that the junction between the rear face of the head and shank is mainly below the longitudinal center of the head.

The object in deflecting a portion of-the shank -3- or loop 4 wholly to the rear side of the axis of the handle is to permit its lower end to be brought forward and across to the opposite side of the axis in a line more nearly normal to the face of the head --1-, thereby concentrating the weight and resistance mainly below the longitudinal center and midway between the ends of said head, and at the same time the rearwardly ofi'set portion'of the shank the extension of the shank rearwardly from the head and some distance beyond the produced axis of the handle gives a direct push ing force to the head substantially normal to the surface thereof-and enable the club to be used with greater accuracy than would be possible with clubs not so-carefully balanced. I

In the modification shown inFig. 5, the shank or socket portion 5- is united to the head "1 by a bifurcated or double loop consisting of branches -4'.joined to the rear face of the head near the base thereof so as to appear in side elevation or detached View similar to that shown in Fig. 4.

What we claim is:

A golf club comprising a head, a shank and a handle, said shank having atportion thereof deflected wholly to one side of the axis of the handle and of reduced cross-sectional area and its lower end returned across and to the front side of said axis and of gradually increased cross-sectional area, and secured to the head.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands this 28th day of, April, 1915;

EDWARD M. FITZJUHN. ELMER A. STANTUN. Witnesses: H. E. CHASE, Amen M. OANNoN. 

